There are forces working against you; spiritual forces of evil, as Paul says here. They never cease trying to thwart what God wants to do in us. Life is a constant battle, that is, if we choose to fight it. If we keep off God’s path, the devil won’t worry about us because we pose no threat to him. But the moment we step into the life that God has for us, the demonic forces muster against us. We tend not to notice the devil’s advances because he is generally covert. He wants to tempt and deceive us subtly without us noticing. Rather than assuming that your heart hasn’t been infiltrated by his influences, you should assume that it has and regularly give yourself a spiritual ‘virus scan’. God will shine his light on these points of influence if you ask him. Once the devil’s lies and temptations are brought to light, they lose their power over us. Never forget that you are in a battle. You can’t afford to let down your guard. Today he will try to infiltrate your heart. He will try to feed ambitions to you, he will try to lure you away from God’s path, he will try to embitter you against people, and he will try to keep you from ever recognising your faults and wrong attitudes. You need not be afraid because you are shielded by God. But you must be alert lest you play yourself into the devil’s hands. He cannot devour you as he wishes unless you willingly feed yourself to him.
Ask God to shine his light on where your heart may have been infiltrated by the devil’s lies and temptations.
Read Ephesians 6:10-20
